According to GreenHealth, in otherwise normal times, hospitals generate more than 5 million tons of waste each year. Personal protective equipment (PPE) has been in short supply for the past two years and it has been widely reported that some have had to reuse what would normally be used once, such as surgical gowns.
MEDU, a Mexico-based startup, seeks to reduce that waste and replace single-use medical gowns by creating a line of durable, virus-resistant reusable pieces that include surgical gowns, head coverings, and full body scrubs.
The company It was started in 2020 by Tamara Chayo, a chemist and TL Fellow CEO who had family in the medical and textile industries and saw the importance of PPE. She and her team began testing fabrics to see which ones had the potential to harbor viruses, and when they started getting positive test results in the lab, they created MEDU.
The products are made with fabric rated Level 4 AAMI PB70, the highest liquid and micro-organism barrier, which provides maximum protection against pollutants, viruses and bacteria, she told TechCrunch.
The company has started trials in Mexican hospitals with an initial investment of $400,000 to test and validate the results and see if doctors like wearing the products.
“Doctors said ours was comfortable for them, but we made a lot of changes and learned from that experience,” said Chayo. “The products can be reused for 50 washes, so you can use the same dress instead of changing to another one, which saves money and waste.”
Tamara Chayo, CEO of MEDU. Image Credits: Mar
To track those 50 washes, near-field communication (NFC) technology embedded in the garment is tracked in real-time, and healthcare professionals are notified via a mobile app of how many times a garment has been washed. After 50 wears, the clothes are returned to MEDU facilities where they are disinfected and turned into cleaners and sustainable packaging.
The company is profitable and continues to grow its revenue at a rate of 6x every month. Since January, it has deployed about 7,000 devices, which Chayo says equates to 3 million.
In the year By the end of 2022, the company will sell more than 20 million single-use PPE. It plans to replace gowns and divert 6,000 tons of hospital waste from landfills or incinerators. In addition, the company has doubled and is working with hospitals in New York and Los Angeles.
Supply chain continues to be a big challenge, and MEDU is among other startups that have come to the scene in the past couple of years to help hospitals and healthcare professionals get the equipment and PPE they need. This includes bTTn, which in June raised $20 million in Series A funding to help doctors get the supplies they need at a better cost, a medical supply marketplace.
MEDU itself has now raised $4 million in seed funding in a round led by MaC Venture Capital, with participation from Halcyon Fund and a group of angel investors including Ryan Shea.
The support will fuel the company’s growth as it expands into the U.S. and continues to grow full-body apparel. Chayo plans to partner with up to 15 hospitals across the US by the end of the year.
She explained that the decision to go after venture capital was to find partners to help the company grow. Massey felt that Venture Capital fit the bill – it was already an investor in healthcare companies – and that it could provide the company with leveraged support as MEDU sought to improve and expand in the United States.
MEDU Chayo is working on US Food and Drug Administration approval for the garment, which it expects to happen later this year. He is also seeking admission into the European Union and is beginning to build relationships in Israel. Meanwhile, the company already has a license in Mexico and is working with five hospitals there.
Chayo’s personality, passion, and background as a chemist with a family in the medical and textile industries made investing in MEDU “one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever made,” Massey Venture Capital CEO Michael Palanque told TechCrunch.
“You couldn’t write that,” he added. “She has traction with pre-FDA approval, including trials at some of the biggest hospitals in America, but those hospitals are introducing her to other hospitals, which is the best way to get clients. MEDU is also doing well in Mexico and is located in one of the country’s largest hospitals. This could not be a more global company, and it will quickly become bigger.
